43. His Butler, Careful Tending
His Butler, Careful Tending (その執事、撫養, Sono Shitsuji, Buyō) is the forty-third episode of the Kuroshitsuji anime, and the seventh episode of Kuroshitsuji: Book of Circus. Summary Joker enters Kelvin's manor. Kelvin praises him and asks if their target is with him. When Joker responds the negative, upsetting Kelvin, he quickly apologizes and explains that the Scotland Yard may have identified them as suspects. Joker mentions that one of the infiltrators of the Noah's Ark Circus is a boy, and affirms that he has an eye patch and accompanies a man in black, which greatly excites Kelvin, who tells him that that boy is the one they are looking for. He orders Joker to arrange a "capital banquet" for Ciel Phantomhive. Joker expresses his concern about the safety of the Circus, but Kelvin reminds him that he saved him and the other first-stringers from East End, and that there are other children he is raising at the Renbourn Workhouse, so Joker must comply to his commands without question. He, then, makes Joker take a picture with him, calling Joker "the dutiful son" and himself a "happy father." While packing, Beast comes across an old photograph of her and the other first-stringers with Kelvin. Wendy encourages her to hurry, and when Beast admits she has something to tell her, Wendy opts that they wait until their task is finished; she convinces Beast that she can see Joker the next day. Dagger, Peter, and Jumbo inform Snake that they are heading out, and thus, Snake must handle that night's show. At the Phantomhive townhouse, Ciel regains his health. Agni apologizes to Sebastian Michaelis for scolding him earlier, but Sebastian assures him that he gave enlightening advice. Soma Asman Kadar comments that Sebastian is not kind enough for a butler, and says through Agni that Ciel should be spoiled since he is ill. Around four o'clock, Sebastian answers the phone, and Tanaka tells him that Elizabeth Midford has arrived at the Phantomhive Manor; she refuses to go home until she gets to see Ciel. A little over seven o'clock in the evening, Ciel wakes up. Sebastian attempts to pamper him, but Ciel reacts negatively and orders him to stop. Subsequently, Sebastian dresses him, relays Tanaka's message, and informs him that Kelvin's estate is about a day's travel from London, first by rail and then by carriage. Ciel orders him to take them there in under an hour. Downstairs, Soma yells at Ciel for trying to leave again. Ciel surprises him when he thanks him. While Soma is distracted, Ciel and Sebastian depart from the townhouse; Soma gets exasperated upon realizing he has been tricked. Elsewhere, Doll tends to her horse, and takes a break. When she finds a Funtom Corporation candy, she remembers Ciel and believes that he is innocent. She climbs on her horse and continues advancing toward Joker. On the rooftop of Kelvin's manor, William complains about not getting extra staff. He sends a document via a carrier bird to Personnel. Ciel and Sebastian arrive at Kelvin's manor, and the latter detects the missing children. Joker welcomes them in. When the manor is illuminated, they discover bizarre human figurines and prosthetics. Ciel tells Sebastian that they should probably capture Kelvin and learn the situation and his motives before anything else. Joker suddenly remarks that one cannot judge another by his appearance, and adds that it must have been hard for Ciel to have stage names like "Queen's guard dog" and "villainous noble." Ciel declares that he is Earl Ciel Phantomhive, and that he does not tolerate "servants speaking to him so familiarly." Joker, then, announces that dinner is ready. Once Ciel sits down, a wheelchair-bound Kelvin emerges from another room and is exalted by Ciel's presence. Joker and several children deliver the food. Kelvin says that they have gotten wine from 1875, as that is the year Ciel was born; after examining it, Sebastian concludes that it has not been poisoned, but Ciel asserts that he has no interest in "eating a meal put on by rats." Ciel and Sebastian perceive that there are more victimized children than the police are aware of, and the former notes that they all move and behave mechanically and emotionlessly. Kelvin proclaims that there will be entertainment for Ciel, and forces Joker to put on a show. A child attempts to perform tightrope walking without a safety net, and falls to her death. Ciel and Sebastian are shocked, and Joker cringes, while Kelvin laughs and claps maniacally. Another kid drags off the corpse, and several other children set up the lion tamer act. The lion attacks and kills a child, which exhilarates Kelvin. A sickened Joker says that the next act is knife throwing, and a child is about to kill another child, but Sebastian rescues her upon Ciel's order and verifies that she is Elary Nixon, who went missing in Cornwall. Kelvin becomes worried that Ciel does not like the performance, and tells Joker to clean it up. Ciel says that he has had enough, and that his report to Queen Victoria will be: "I found the foul, vulgar, unsightly, perverted brute, and I disposed of him." Simultaneously, Ciel intends to shoot Kelvin, Joker puts his weapon against Ciel's throat, and Sebastian does the same to him. Kelvin rebukes Joker for pointing "that dangerous thing" at Ciel and demands that he cease doing as such. Joker obeys him reluctantly, and Ciel asks Kelvin about the whereabouts of the children he kidnapped. Kelvin informs that they are in the cellar, and volunteers to escort him, as there is something else he wants to show him. As they head to the cellar, Kelvin talks about how glad he is that Ciel is there with him, and that he has been "filled with regret ever since that day," because he could not be at Ciel's side "at that time," which befuddles Ciel. He admits that no amount of regret can turn back time, but that they can reenact the event. The doors to the cellar open, revealing a replica of the place Ciel was tortured; the abducted children are locked up in cages. Kelvin confesses that it took three years to prepare it. Ciel is horrified, as he remembers the gruesome and traumatizing incident. Characters in Order of Appearance *Joker *Kelvin *Beast *Wendy *Snake *Peter *Dagger *Jumbo *Sebastian Michaelis *Agni *Soma Asman Kadar *Mey-Rin *Elizabeth Midford *Baldroy *Tanaka *Finnian *Doll *William T. Spears *Elary Nixon Category:Episodes Category:Kuroshitsuji: Book of Circus